Renasant Bank and Metropolitan BancGroup, the parent company of Metropolitan Bank, have signed a definitive merger agreement.

Metropolitan will merge with and into Renasant in an all-stock transaction currently valued at approximately $190.2 million.

The proposed merger has been approved unanimously by each company’s board of directors and is expected to close early in Q3/17.

Curt Gabardi, president and CEO of Metropolitan, will be joining Renasant Bank as president and chief banking officer with responsibility for commercial and mortgage banking as well as other financial services.

“This is an attractive opportunity to partner with a dynamic franchise with tremendous banking talent. Metropolitan is a high quality commercial and private bank with a strong credit culture and an attractive client base which enhances our current presence and market share in the key markets of Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee and Jackson, Mississippi,” said Renasant Chairman and CEO Robin McGraw.

Mitch Waycaster, Renasant president and COO, added, “We believe this merger will expand our market share, earnings growth and profitability, and is expected to greatly benefit our current and future clients with expanded locations, services and products. The merger also accelerates our crossing of the $10 billion asset threshold to late 2017 – an event that we have been positioning for since 2006, and we are confident in the level of preparation, infrastructure and personnel that we have put into place.”

Founded in 2008, Metropolitan is a privately-held bank holding company with two offices in Nashville, TN, two in Memphis, TN and four offices in the Jackson, MS area. As of December 31, 2016, Metropolitan had approximately $1.2 billion in total assets, approximately $918 million in total loans and approximately $888 million in total deposits.